


Watch The Sunset With Me

by vivianj



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Loki Feels, M/M, Some Fluff, Teen Angst, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-21
Updated: 2014-06-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 23:46:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1666892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivianj/pseuds/vivianj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki is a lonely kid until he finds himself in SHIELD High School. There he makes friends, falls in love, loses in love, loses his friends and finds himself. It all works out in the end. Probably not in the way you'd like.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first time I write fanfiction in six years and also the first time I publish a story in English. I'm looking for beta-readers, so if you're interested go leave me a message at http://its-a-motherfucker.tumblr.com/ with some contact information and you'll get a massive thanks on each chapter. This is a brand new story, so tags, rating and relationships might be subjected to change should the story take a different route than the one I have planned for it (you know how they tend to have a mind of their own..) but the essence will remain the same.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this!

 

 

 

**This prologue is full of inaccuracies, lies, half-truths and other bullshit.**

 

Once upon a time there was a people who inhabited the grounds of the area we now call Scandinavia. This people consisted of fearless warriors called Vikings, who drank mead from the skulls of their enemies and thought it great joy to die in battle, for they believed a warrior’s death would grant them entrance in the halls of Valhalla, their equivalent of what we call Heaven today. The Vikings, like any other people, had their own language, their own customs and their own religion, which featured immortal gods and goddesses who lived in another realm called Asgard. Odin, Frigga, Thor and Loki were some of those.

This story has little to nothing to do with them.

 

Once upon a time there was a planet named Earth, on which heroes and villains roamed. And there came a day unlike any other, when Earth’s mightiest heroes found themselves united against a common threat. And Thor, the Asgardian God of Thunder joined forces with the heroes of Earth to fight against his own brother, the villain named Loki. And thus the Avengers were born, to fight the foes no single hero could withstand.

This story has nothing to do with those, either.

 

Once upon a time there was a boy named Loki who had a brother named Thor and a mother named Frigga and too much trouble in his head and in his heart.

 

This is a story about him.


	2. Loki makes a friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First days in new schools were always a pain in the ass no matter what.

First days in new schools were always a pain in the ass no matter what. Loki knew he had to steel himself for whatever awaited him behind the enormous gates of SHIELD Private High School. Thor had spent the entire summer break trying to convince him of SHIELD’s friendly environment, but Loki wasn’t falling for it; wherever he went, Thor was always well liked or, failing that, feared and respected. Of course he wouldn’t be having any trouble in high school. Loki, on the other hand, tended to be ignored at best, disliked at worse and downright hated at worst. All it would take was one wrong look and he thought he’d find himself shut in a locker before he had time to say “leave me the fuck alone”, nevermind something actually clever.

With worry and a handful of worst case scenarios at the front of his mind, Loki made his way on the cobblestoned path leading from the gate to the entrance of the building. The path was wide enough for six or seven people to walk side by side. The rest of the schoolyard was covered in grass. There were several big trees casting large shadows over lunch tables and the edge of the grounds was lined with smaller trees and benches. It was the kind of landscape that invited you to lounge in the sun and share jokes and it made Loki wish he had friends.

Loki entered the lobby and started looking for his brother. Thor was supposed to be here earlier since he drove with Jane while Loki rode the bus, but the only blonde head Loki had spotted so far belonged to a kid too scrawny to be confused with Thor in this or any other lifetime. Loki walked back out and surveyed the yard. Several blonds, none of them Thor. He pulled out his phone and started texting.

 

 _From: Loki_  
 To: Sweetheart  
 _7:46am_

_Where are you??_

_From: Thor_  
 _To: Snow White  
_ _7:48am_

_in the bus, jane’s car broke down. we’ll be there in 10’._

_From: Loki_  
 _To: Sweetheart  
_ _7:53am_

_You asshole! I’m waiting._

 

Loki sat down at the stairs a few feet away from the entrance, leaned his head on his right hand and waited.

 

*

 

He must have sat there for at least five minutes staring into nothing, his mind miles away. Loki didn’t even register someone sitting down next to him until he was startled by a voice decidedly not Thor’s. 

“Hi.” Loki whipped his head to the left and nearly clung to the rail behind him, his defenses up and ready. The readhead girl eyed him strangely. “Sorry, did I startle you? You seemed sort of spaced out there.”

 “Yeah, I was just thinking. About… stuff. What do you want?” Loki practically emanated fear. The girl didn’t look hostile, but Loki knew an attacking stance when he saw one. Her gaze seemed to be scanning him with x-rays and her casually controlled movements screamed danger.

 “Nothing. I just thought I’d say hi. You’re the only one around here sitting by himself, I thought you might want some company” she shrugged. “I’m Natasha, by the way.” She extended her hand.

 Loki eyed her, then the hand, then her face again. Slowly, reluctantly, he reached out and shook it.

 “Loki.”

“Good to meet you.” Natasha didn’t seem at all perturbed by his behavior. “So, were you bullied much in your previous schools?”

“What??” Loki gaped at her. She kept staring silently, obviously waiting for an actual reply. Loki felt suddenly very annoyed. He was used to insults and the occasional punch, but being made to feel like a confused idiot was a step over the line. “Yes”, he snapped and turned his head away, silently hoping she wouldn’t retaliate by bumping his head against the rail. Natasha raised an eyebrow and wondered if Loki had a superiority complex and if that was the reason for the bullying. Or if it was the other way round. She smiled in the short silence.

“Want to be friends with me?” she grinned. Loki took a couple of seconds before processing that the question was aimed at him and not as a joke. He turned to her slowly.

“Why?”

“Why not?” her grin grew wider and something that Loki recognized flashed in her eyes. Before he could register what was happening, he was smiling back at her.

 

Loki made a mental note to wish for things more often.

 

*

 

“Oh my god, did someone put you on a stretching machine?” 

“Excuse me?” Steve’s eyebrows shot up in confusion.

 “I could swear you weren’t this tall before the summer, Rogers. What happened? Late growth spurt?” Tony smiled his million dollar smile and leaned slightly back to appreciate the view. Steve blushed as he handed Bruce a bottle of water and his change.

 “I may have grown a couple of inches… Not much of a growth spurt, really.” he said with a grimance.

 “Oh, it looks like a growth spurt to me – are you going to get muscly, too? Please tell me you’ll get muscly, too, I could sell your body and make a fortune if you were muscly.”

“Tony, shut up and leave him alone.” Bruce sighed.

“What did I say? I’m just predicting a bright future for our resident runt – you remember my words when they make you captain of the football team, Steve!” Tony put his chin in his hand in mock consideration. “Captain Steve Rogers”, he said, trying the words on his tongue. “Doesn’t sound so bad!”

Steve threw a half-hearted laugh. Tony caught it.

“Not that I don’t already love you the way you are, though, you’re easier to hug like that” Tony remarked casually. Steve gave him a small smile. “Like, see that guy over there? Pretty hot, yeah, but not at all huggable. And I’m a cuddler.” Tony winked at Steve while Steve looked over at the gate and saw a big, blond dude with a petite brunette trailing after him. The image of himself being so large and Tony trailing after him popped unbidden in his head and Steve burst into laughter.

“Hey, that’s Jane”, said Bruce craning his neck to get a better look at her. “JANE!” he called out, making heads turn. Jane spotted him, pressed a chaste kiss to the tall guy’s cheek and made her way towards the trio.

“Hey, Bruce! How are you doing?” she smiled as she leaned in for a quick hug.

“Fine, I guess. I’m a little excited about, you know, new school, new labs, new partners.” Jane’s eyes widened in mock shock.

“Wasn’t I good enough for you?” she gasped. Bruce chuckled.

“You were great, up until you started dating Thor and wouldn’t shut up about him – was that him, by the way?” Jane blushed and ducked her head sheepishly.

“Yeah, that was him. He wasn’t supposed to come to SHIELD, but I managed to persuade his parents to send him and his brother here, because there were some issues with his brother in his previous schools and well, if I get to spend more time with Thor in the meantime, it can’t be bad, huh?” she smiled.

“Definitely not bad – what kind of issues?” asked Bruce curiously.

“Bullying, mainly, but you did not hear that from me.” Jane warned.

Tony chimed in. “Good thing he came here, then. SHIELD may not be the perfect school, but they’ve got their shit together when it comes to that stuff. Anyone tries to corner you in a hallway and he’s out on his ass before he can count to three.” His tone was rather intense. Jane looked at the arm he had thrown around the shorter boy’s shoulders and nodded. “I’m Tony, by the way, nice to meet you.”

“Oh, you’re Tony Stark? Good to meet you, at last, I’ve heard so much!” Jane shook his hand.

“I assure you, they are all true.” Tony smirked. “This is my future husband, Steve”, he added and Jane shook Steve’s hand, too.

 

The bell rang.

 

*

 

“Loki!”

Loki looked up to see Thor walking towards where he and Natasha were sitting, with a worried look on his face and his eyes locked on Natasha’s head. Loki waved a hand in greeting and gave him a subtle nod. Thor relaxed visibly.

“This is Thor, my brother”, Loki said to Natasha.

“Really?”

“Kind of.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Thor stared at them. Loki averted his gaze, looking vaguely uncomfortable. Natasha cleared her throat.

“Hi, I’m Natasha, Loki’s new friend. Nice to meet you.” Thor looked surprised as he shook her hand.

“Same”, he said with an unsure smile. Natasha wondered if she should leave them alone for a while but didn’t make a move to get up.

 

The bell rang.

 

*

 

 _From: Natasha_  
 _To: Loki  
_ _8:35_

_Hey._

_From: Loki_  
T _o: Natasha Romanoff  
_ _8:37_

_What?_

_From: Natasha_  
 _To: Loki  
_ _8:38_

_Nothing, just checking whether the number you gave me was real._

_From: Loki_  
 _To: Natasha Romanoff  
_ _8:40_

_Why wouldn’t it be?_

_From: Natasha_  
 _To: Loki  
_ _8:42_

 _Y_ _ou seemed sort of uncomfortable when I asked for your number._

_From: Loki_  
 _To: Natasha Romanoff  
_ _8:43_

_So?_

_From: Natasha_  
 _To: Loki  
_ _8:45_

_So, you could have given me a false number to get out of the tight spot._

_From: Loki_  
 _To: Natasha Romanoff  
_ _8:47_

_I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask: Who are you and where did you get my number?_

 

Natasha burst into soft chuckles which she tried to hide behind her hand. She turned her head and looked at Loki three rows behind her, smiling at him mischievously. Loki kept his face neutral but his lips were almost imperceptibly curled upwards and his eyes were shining with amusement. The teacher eyed them curiously but continued to ramble about astrophysics without commenting. Loki found the lesson thoroughly interesting and prayed Natasha wouldn’t text him again because he wanted to pay attention.

Natasha didn’t.

Loki wondered when his prayers had begun to get answered.

  
 *  
  


The rest of the day passed by in a blur. Loki sat with Natasha throughout the rest of the classes. He found out that Natasha liked rock music and action movies, that she hated archery and that she loved milkshakes.

Natasha found out that Loki was a hipster and called him out on it while Loki made indignant sounds and denied it. Natasha found it enormously funny.

 

Loki and Thor rode the bus home together. Loki was tired as sleepy. He leaned his head on his brother’s shoulder and closed his eyes, signing happily. Thor laid a chaste kiss at the top of Loki’s head and turned his gaze to the town outside the bus window. Loki had made a friend. It _was_ the beginning of a new chapter after all. Who knows, Thor mused, this one might actually belong to a happy story.

Loki thought that first days in new schools didn't have to be so bad.

p

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews are rewarded with cyber hugs and cyber cookies and love.


	3. Sleepover (AKA Loki's friend already had a friend)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint gets jealous. Natasha gets bored. Loki gets slightly weirded out. One of them gets over their problem.

“What up, ‘Tasha?” Clint asked as he caught up with her.

“Hi, Clint.” she greeted without looking at him, her step never wavering.

“Did you have fun at school? How was your first day?” Clint was trying to sound nice, but Natasha could hear the edge in his voice.

“It was good. How about yours?” she asked impassively.

“’Twas okay, I guess. You know how public schools are. It’s all about keeping a low profile. Nothing like the posh in your new playground.” Boy, did Natasha not need that sort of bullshit today.

“SHIELD is not posh”, she frowned.

“Like hell it is. I’m sure they named it like that because the tuition is So High I Emit Loan Debts.” Clint wasn’t even trying to hide his bitter anger anymore. “You put that many rich people in one place, it’s bound to be filled with arrogant assholes.”

“Oh, like your friends you mean? No argument there!” Natasha came to a halt and turned to look at him, sarcasm etched on her pretty face.

 

Clint opened his mouth to say something but took a deep breath and shut it again instead. He closed his eyes. There was no reason to start this fight again. When he spoke again, his voice was significantly calmer.

 

“I heard you met someone.” he said softly. He made a move to cross his arms against his chest, but wouldn’t that look accusing? He opted to put his hands in his pockets instead.

“Oh, so the kids in your boy band are now spying on me! Just why didn’t you enroll in SHIELD, too, Clint? You could have stalked me yourself and save yourself the agonizing wait for the debriefing!” Natasha glared daggers at him.

“They weren’t spying on you. They just happened to see you hanging around a guy all day. You weren’t exactly hiding.”

“And why did they feel it was important to tell you?” She crossed her arms.

“They didn’t! Jesus, Nat, I just asked them if they happened to see you and they mentioned it!” Clint groaned with frustration. “Why must you always think the worst of me?”

“Past experience.” A pause. “Yes, I met someone. His name is Loki, he’s smart, funny and lonely. We’re friends now.” She let her arms fall at her sides. “How was your day, then?” she asked, now genuinely interested.

“Shitty. It’s not that the school isn’t good or anything – I mean, okay, it’s no SHIELD, but it’s not total crap – it’s just… I don’t have anyone there. I spent the entire day watching other people by myself because I didn’t have anyone there.” Clint sounded sad.

“You could try and make some friends, you know. I won’t feel cheated on if you do, I’m sure neither will your other friends.” Natasha looked at him like he was an idiot. He huffed a laugh.

“Yeah. I know. I just don’t feel like it.” He looked at her dead in the eye. They stayed there like that for a while. “Anyway. I’ll be fine, I guess. It’s just the first days that are always a pain in the ass, you know?” Natasha burst into laughter. “What?” asked Clint warily.

“Loki told me the exact same thing this morning. ‘First days are always a pain in the ass’.” She kept chuckling as they started walking again. Clint smiled.

“So, what’s he like? Am I going to like him?”

Natasha thought about it for a minute.

“Not really”, she said honestly. “He kinda has this superiority complex, even worse than Stark, and his sense of humor is way too British. You’d probably dislike him on sight.”

“That why you chose him?” Clint rarely managed to mask his feelings, but his voice sounded perfectly nonchalant to his ears and he mentally patted himself on the back.

“No. At least not consciously.” Natasha spoke to herself more than she spoke to Clint. “I don’t know why I chose him. He didn’t look miserable or anything, he was just sitting there by himself, staring at nothing, mind probably miles away… And he was pretty scared when I talked to him, like he feared I might attack him or something.” Natasha shook her head. “I don’t know what I chose him. It was an impulse, like I could feel he’s worth it. I enjoyed being around him today. He’s nice. I don’t know.”

 

Natasha stopped rambling and sent Clint a sideways look. He was staring ahead, no expression on his face.

 

“Are you jealous?” she asked. He remained silent. “Don’t be jealous. You still know me better than anyone.”

“Yeah, I suppose.” said Clint and forced a smile on his face as they reached his house. “See you around, then.” They hugged.

 

Natasha kissed him on the cheek and took off. Clint stared after her, silently wondering: ‘For how long?’

 

*

 

“…Also, Loki made a friend.” Thor concluded in his report. Frigga’s eyes lit up.

“A friend?”

“Yep. A girl in his class, apparently. Her name’s Natasha.” Thor smiled at his mother. “Don’t ask me how, I wasn’t there, but I have a feeling she forced her presence on him, which is probably the only way to get Loki to befriend you, so…”

“Your brother functions according to his past experiences. It’s difficult for him to trust people. I’m sure that if Loki truly befriended this girl you speak of, she must have done something more than force herself on him as you say.” Frigga’s tone was serious, but she looked utterly pleased. “It was about time, I think”, she added softly. Thor turned a speculative gaze at her.

“Do you think they might end up being more than friends?” he mused.

“Oh, I don’t know. I hope not. Loki needs a friend more than he needs a girlfriend right now. Who knows, though.”

 

Frigga returned to her cooking while Thor tried to imagine Loki having a girlfriend. The thought made him want to laugh, but he reminded himself that there was nothing strange with his brother having a significant other. A foot for every shoe and all. Thor shook his head before he zoned out completely and stood.

 

“Right. Homework. Can you believe they gave us homework on our first day?” he groaned. Frigga turned a smile at him.

“Happy studying.” Thor left the kitchen with another groan.

 

*

 

Loki was immersed in his reading when his cell phone rang.

 

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s me. How are you doing?”

Loki paused and looked at his phone as if it had spurted a head.

“I’m fine. Not very different than I was five hours ago when you saw me last.”

“Do you want to hang out tonight?”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, tonight. Do you want to hang out? We could go for a walk or something. Or you can come over and watch a movie, dunno, whatever you like.”

“Natasha, it’s nine o’ clock.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“And we’re fifteen years old.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Do your parents let you go out at this time?”

“Oh. Right. Um, yeah.”

“Oh. Well. Mine don’t, you know.”

“Riiight. Do you want me to come over? Or we could just leave it and I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

“Do you _want_ to come over?”

“I want to hang out. I’m bored.”

“Okay… Let me ask my mum and see if it’s okay. I’ll call you back in five minutes.”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

 

Loki ended the call and stared at the screen for a minute. Were they close enough for random late night visits? Granted, it wasn’t that late, but they _were_ only fifteen, Loki’s standard curfew was ten thirty max.

Feeling rather confused he got up and made his way to the living room. Both his parents were in their pajamas watching TV.

 

“Hey, darling.” Frigga greeted him warmly. “What is it?”

“Um. I made a friend”, he started, “her name’s Natasha and she’s a pretty good kid – seems to be anyway – and she just called to hang out and I told her it’s too late for me to go out and she asked if she could come over.” Loki realized how weird it all was, he had only met Natasha this morning. He wished his mother would say no and let that be the end of it.

“Are you here asking for permission?” asked Odin, turning to look at him with his one eye. He didn’t wear his eye patch at home and Loki tried hard not to stare at the eternal bruise that used to be his left eye.

“Yeah”, he said, nowhere near confidently.

“Loki, you haven’t made a friend since you were five. It could be two in the morning and we’d still let her come visit you”, said Odin seriously and turned back to the TV. Loki was speechless and torn between feeling hurt and marveling at such freedom. Frigga didn’t look impressed with Odin’s blunt honesty. Odin ignored the dirty look she sent his way.

“Of course your friend can come over, Loki, so long as her parents allow her to. But not for too long, hm? It’s a school night, sleeping late won’t do either of you any good.” Frigga flashed a smile. Loki was about to turn around and return to his room when Odin spoke again.

“Hey, why don’t you ask her if she wants to stay the night? We can put the folding bed in your room.” Loki froze. Frigga looked positively murderous. “You can ride the bus to school together tomorrow.”

“I don’t think mum thinks this is a good idea.” Loki stuttered.

“I don’t mind, darling, I just prefer not to pressure you into anything. Unlike some others.” she snapped looking at her husband sternly. Odin gave her the most innocent look he could muster and damn, was he good at this. Loki felt laughter bubbling in his stomach and put a hand over his mouth to subdue it.

“Seriously, though, what should I tell her?” he asked.

“Whatever you want to”, answered Frigga quickly before Odin had the chance to speak.

“Okay…” agreed Loki and went back to his room.

 

He dialed Natasha’s number and she immediately answered.

“What’s the verdict?” she asked and Loki could just picture the scarily serious face she often employed as though she was playing  the spy in a film.

“You can come over, if you want to, my mother says it’s fine so long as we don’t sleep too late.” A pause.

“Okay. What’s your address?” Loki could hear her fumbling for paper and pen. Loki told her and she repeated each word as she wrote. Before he could even realize what he was doing, Loki spoke again.

“My dad also said you can stay over if you want to.” Loki felt as though his mouth had moved of its own accord and silently cursed himself.

“Really?” Natasha said in disbelief. Loki took a quiet breath.

“Yeah, if you feel like it, so you don’t have to return to your house so late at night. My – my parents can’t drive you back, they’d love to, but they’re already preparing for bed, so…” Another pause. “You could bring your books for tomorrow’s classes and we could take the bus together. By the way, it’s totally okay if you don’t want to stay here, I’m just mentioning my dad’s suggestion.”

“Oh. Right. Um… I don’t want to be a burden or anything…” Natasha sounded unsure but not uncomfortable.

“You won’t be a burden. We’ve got a folding bed and everything, there’s plenty of food in the fridge and – look, do you want to stay over or not? I’m not going to sit here and babble like an idiot for nothing!” For an instant Loki regretted ever making friends. They apparently made for so many awkward moments.

“Yeah, I want to stay over, as long as you’re asking me because you want to and not because your dad made the suggestion and you just want to keep him happy!”

“Why would I do that???” Loki all but screamed.

“You tell me!” Natasha all but screamed as well.

 

 

“I’m not sure I want to discuss my daddy issues over the phone and with my dad in such close proximity.” Loki’s voice had dropped to right above a whisper.

“Do you want me to stay the night?”

“I don’t know if I _want_ to, I’ve never had a sleepover before, I have no idea what it’s like.” Loki explained defensively, his face burning hot. “You can stay.”

“Okay.”

“See you, soon, then.”  
“Yup. On my way. Bye.”

“Bye.”

 

Loki hung up and took a deep breath. He hoped he wouldn’t regret this.

 

*

 

When the doorbell rang thirty minutes later, it was Frigga answering the door.

 

“Hi, I’m Natasha, Loki’s waiting for me?” Natasha put on her best ‘I’m totally normal’ grin as she spoke to Loki’s mother. She doubted the illusion would last long, but first impressions mattered.

“Yes, hello, nice to meet you. I’m Frigga, Loki’s mum.” Frigga replied with her own ‘you’re-not-fooling-anyone-but-let’s-keep-this-up-it’s-so-amusing’ smile.

 

So much for trying to appear OK, thought Natasha as they shook hands. Just as Odin emerged from the living room fully intending to introduce himself and perhaps even drill Natasha with questions concerning her background, Loki appeared out of nowhere and dragged her up the stairs.

 

“Hi!” was all Natasha managed to throw Odin’s way before he got out of sight.

 

Odin sighed. Frigga chuckled.

 

“What did you think of her?” Odin asked his wife. Frigga frowned.

“I’d rather not say. I only saw her for a mere minute. You know how first impressions can be deceiving.”

“Not to you.” It was Frigga’s turn to sigh.

“I did not sense kindness in her.” A pause. “But I don’t sense kindness in our son, either. I just hope Loki knows what he’s doing with letting her get so close so soon. Odin, they only met this morning!” Frigga didn’t try to hide the worry she felt. Odin reached to stroke her back soothingly.

“Don’t worry so much, my dear. I’m sure Loki will be alright and we’ll be all here for him if anything goes wrong.”

Frigga looked as though she wanted to say something but thought better of it. She shook her head and went back to the living room, her husband trailing after her.

 

*

 

“So, what was that thing you said about Thor today? He’s not really your brother?” Natasha was sprawled on the folding bed looking at the ceiling. Loki was sprawled on his own bed.

“No. He isn’t.” He sounded rather sad about it.

“Is either of you adopted?” Natasha craned her neck to look at him.

“Yes.”

“And seeing how your whole body just tensed and you stopped breathing, am I right to assume it is you?” Natasha was clearly amused. Loki made an annoyed sound.

“You know that thing you do? When you observe stuff and make deductions and show off to the people concerned with no regard for their feelings? I don’t really like that.”

Natasha snorted. “Did you just compare me to Sherlock Holmes?” She giggled – it wasn’t like her and it echoed oddly in the room. “Fine, will you be my Watson?”

“If it means I have to silently bear your attitude, I think I’ll pass.”

“Whatever. You gonna tell me about your daddy issues?"

"I'd rather not." Loki was frowning. An uncomfortable silence began to stretch and Loki saw Natasha's eyes fixed on a point at the opposite wall. "Not right now, I mean. I'm not in the best frame of mind."

"Oh. Sure. Whenever you feel like it." Natasha gave a small smile.  
  
 

Loki could feel his eyelids growing heavy. He glanced at the clock and groaned – the alarm was set only five hours ahead.

“Can we go to sleep now? It’s late, we have to get up early tomorrow…”

“I thought you’d never ask!”

“What?!” Loki’s eyes widened.

“I’ve been struggling to stay awake for the past hour, I was waiting for you to get tired so we could sleep.” Natasha didn’t seem to be joking. Loki glared at her. “What?”

“I’ve been struggling to stay awake for the past two hours! Are you always so chatty and energetic when you’re sleepy?”

“Only when I’m trying to fight it.” Loki stared. “So… good night?”

A pause.

“Yes. Good night.”

 

As sleep settled over him, Loki thought sleepovers weren't so bad after all.


	4. Love at first sight?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Tony meet. Loki gets in trouble, Tony ends up mostly confused. The worst is yet to come.

The morning after the impromptu sleepover wasn’t as awkward as Loki had feared. Natasha moved around him with ease, as though they knew each other for years and not a single day and Loki found himself following the rhythm. Bonding, he thought it was called. Loki and Natasha rode the bus to school together. They sat together in class, chatted during lunch break and that’s pretty much how most days went afterwards.

 

And so Loki had made a friend. Soon enough he began calling Natasha himself to hang out and her own calls became a normality. Thor relaxed and no longer sent the two of them curious looks. Every now and then Loki would pause and wonder how it all happened so fast, but then he would look at Natasha and everything would make sense. He stopped thinking about it at all after a month had passed.

 

*

 

A month had passed… Loki still didn’t know anyone else in his class, except for a couple of people. He didn’t mind – Nat was enough for him and she hardly ever spoke to anyone else as well, so. However, Loki noticed one student who often seemed to be watching him for no apparent reason. At first he thought the guy was just messing with him – because he seemed like that kind of person – but time passed and Loki would still look up to find him hastily looking away and curiosity gnawed at his insides to know why.

 

A month had passed when Loki decided to find out.

 

It wasn’t planned. Loki was walking to his locker after his last class when he saw the other boy putting books in his own locker, none of his friends with him. Loki stood there for a moment. The boy turned his head at the sound of Loki’s footsteps and his eyes widened slightly before he looked away again, suddenly more focused in his books.

_The hell with it,_ thought Loki and walked up to him.

 

“Hi.” he said, voice sure and steady.

“Hi…” the other boy replied, voice anything but.

“What’s your name?”

“Uh.. Tony Stark...” he replied hesitantly. The name strung a distant chord in Loki’s mind and he was quick to place it – Jane had mentioned him at the beginning of the school year. Friends with Bruce, Jane’s lab partner. Was that relevant?

“Sorry to bother you. Is there something I’ve done and you keep staring at me during class?” Loki felt his knees shaking – on a scale of one to five hundred, how ridiculous did he sound?

“I haven’t been staring at you during class…” said Tony slowly. Loki blinked, taken aback.

“Yes you have!” he snapped. He saw the other swallowing hard. Silence stretched.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. It’s really rather ridiculous.” Suddenly Tony started speaking very fast. “It’s just that I have this friend who has this friend and they’re really good friends, but my friend’s friend has been acting sort of weird for a long time and since my friend doesn’t go to this school me and our other friends are sort of burdened with keeping an eye on her and she seems to be hanging around you all the time, so I kinda have to watch you, too.” Pause. “Not like stalking you or anything, just, you know… Just watching you.” He looked like a deer in headlights. Loki blinked a couple of times, processing the information.  
“You have a friend who doesn’t go to this school and is friends with Natasha.” he repeated.

“Yes”, Tony confirmed.

“And Natasha has been acting weird around him and he’s worried, so he got you to watch over her?”

“Yes again. If I ask you not to tell her, what are the chances you won’t?” Tony looked slightly panicked.

“And watching over Natasha means watching over me because I’m her friend.” Loki concluded, ignoring the question.

“Pretty much.”

“What’s his name?”

“Whose name?”

“Your friend’s name.”

“I have plenty of friends. Which one do you mean?” At Loki’s irritated expression, he added: “Clint. His name’s Clint. Has ‘Tasha mentioned him?”

“No.” Loki frowned.

“Right. I’m not that surprised. Anyway. Please don’t tell her about it all?” Tony pleaded again.

“I’ll do what I want!” Loki snapped once again. Tony ground his teeth together trying to keep his composure in place. It wouldn’t do him any good to get in a fight with the guy.

“I haven’t a single doubt about that”, he said calmly, “but it’d be great if you could at least give me a warning.” Tony looked straight into Loki’s eyes, doing his best to convey that he was serious and also not a threat. And wow, Loki’s eyes were pretty stunning, all shiny green and golden flecks near the pupil. Tony nearly grimaced at the phrasing, feeling like the hero of a sappy teen romance novel. He focused his attention to the matter at hand again and was once again thrown off, because Loki’s gaze had softened somewhat and Tony couldn’t recognize the emotions that flickered in them for the life of him. Loki’s expression shifted every two seconds and he looked like he was thinking at one hundred miles per hour, until his gaze locked onto Tony’s again. Tony’s heart somewhat sank when he saw the frown was back. It couldn’t be good news.

 

Loki visibly swallowed and his eyes were glistening slightly when he finally spoke.

“I will give you a warning to await your doom if I end up telling her. Fear not.” He gave Tony a half-hearted sardonic smile, turned slowly on his heel and left.

 

*

 

**An internal monologue**  
Well, not really. More like an erratic jumble of thoughts.  
All in all, a terrible, terrible disaster.

 

Tony looked straight into Loki’s eyes. His gaze was steady and serious, only to soften within seconds into mildly surprised wonder. Tony’s eyes were dark brown and so deep Loki suddenly felt like he was drowning. He swallowed hard as he felt something stirring at the bottom of his stomach and filled his mind with lust and desire. Tony must have sensed something, if the way he instinctively drew back looking baffled was anything to go by. Loki averted his gaze as a jumble of thoughts passed through his brain, fighting for domination. Don’t fall. There’s no way this is going to work. Don’t fall for him. Don’t fall for anyone. But what if – no, don’t, trust me, it will end in tears. You never know – yes, I do, the guy hates you, he’s spying on you on behalf of someone, Natasha will hate you for this. Natasha is my friend, she will underst—WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT? He’s not even gay and even if he were, why would he want anything to do with you? No, he IS gay! I’ve seen him… with that little blond boy from our class… They’re probably together.

They definitely are. Jane mentioned it…

This is stupid anyway. What’s wrong with me, I don’t even know the guy – and I don’t even like him! Fuck this.

 

Loki turned his eyes to Tony again. How long had he been lost in his thoughts there? He must have seemed exceptionally weird. Even for his standards. He swallowed.

 

“I will give you a warning to await your doom if I end up telling her. Fear not.” Cold anger seeped through him, accompanied by a hint of guilt, because it wasn’t Tony’s fault that Loki suddenly got an attraction.

This is ridiculous.

Let’s just go.

 

Loki didn’t hand in his History essay the next day. He never picked the book from his locker and although he could have called Natasha to borrow hers, he didn’t feel like talking to her at all.

 

*

 

Tony was two parts creeped out and three parts confused as he waited for the warning which never came. When he finally became convinced that Loki wouldn’t spill the beans to Natasha, that was when all hell broke loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to point out once again that I'm pretty new to this and I'm having some obvious trouble keeping a steady pace. I seem to either drag a scene too long or speed up weeks in less than a paragraph. I'd very much like to promise you that I will get better, but I would be lying. In the meantime, thanks for the hits and kudos - much appreciated! :)


	5. Shit is getting serious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha and Thor are worried, Loki has feelings.

Natasha was getting worried.

It had been a whole week since the last decent conversation she had with Loki and he acted weirder and weirder every day. How he treated the people around him (i.e. really bad) wasn’t much of a problem for Natasha, so long as he didn’t write her off, but she hated seeing him so miserable.

 

It had started like this: One day, Loki didn’t pick his history book from his locker before he left school. That’s the reason he gave to the teacher the next day when she asked why his essay wasn’t delivered. Natasha assumed he was lying, because that couldn’t have been the problem; he could have easily borrowed hers. She couldn’t imagine, though, what his real reason had been. Loki _never_ skipped homework.

Loki was up and out of the class within seconds after the doorbell rang. Natasha had to practically run after him.

 

“Loki, dammit, wait up!”

He slowed somewhat but didn’t precisely stop. When Natasha reached him, he didn’t even look at her.

“What?” he asked, the face of pure apathy. Natasha moved in front of him in an attempt to catch his gaze. He seemed determined to avoid eye contact at all costs. Natasha felt something suspiciously like hurt prickling at the back of her mind.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she demanded.

“Nothing.” _If depression had a voice, it would be his right now_ , she thought.

“Why aren’t you looking at me?” she pressed. Loki lifted his gaze to meet hers. He looked so tired and pained that Natasha instinctively raised her arms and enveloped him in the most sincere embrace she could achieve. Loki remained unmoving. She let him go. “What happened to you?” she said softly. Loki’s eyes were glistening now.

“I’d rather not talk about it, if you don’t mind.” he whispered.

Natasha sighed. She nodded. “Just, promise me if you need anything you’ll let me know.”

“Of course.”

Natasha nodded again and walked away. Loki carried on on his way.

 

*

 

“Why the long face?” Clint asked two weeks later.

“Nothing”, replied Natasha, “I’m just a bit worried.”

“About what?” Clint took another bite from his burger.

“Loki. He hasn’t been himself lately.” Natasha kept pushing her fries around.

“How can you tell?” he asked, mouth full. “You barely know him anyway.”

Natasha scowled. “I know him well enough. I knew you well enough in less time than I’ve known him.”

Clint sulked. “Whatever.” Pause. “So, what’s the matter with him?”

“I don’t know. He just started acting really weird out of the blue. He seems depressed, won’t talk to anyone and sometimes he looks like he’s about to cry. Won’t even participate in class, his homework isn’t what it used to be… He’s really not himself.”

“Maybe he’s got issues at home. Did you ask his brother?”

Natasha eyed him curiously. “How do you know he’s got a brother?” Clint shrugged.

“I know his brother’s girlfriend, she’s a friend of Bruce’s. She’s mentioned Loki a couple of times.”

“What did she say about him?”

“Bullying issues in previous schools, really smart, not very sociably, adopted. All I know.”

“Not bad.” Natasha raised her eyebrow. Clint made a face at her.

“She hasn’t mentioned anything about depression, though.” Clint finished off his coke and wiped his hands on a napkin. “We should head home.”

“Yeah”, Natasha agreed and waved at the waiter to get the bill.

 

*

 

The next morning Thor cornered Natasha at a corridor before she had the chance to find him first.

“Natasha, isn’t it?” he asked politely.

“Yeah”, she confirmed trying to tamp down the worry.

“Do you know what is wrong with my brother these days? Did something happen between the two of you?” Thor asked. Natasha’s face fell.

“No. I don’t know what happened to him, I was planning to ask you if you knew.” Thor’s face fell as well and he let out a sigh.

“I asked him, but he won’t say. He won’t even talk to me anymore.”

“Same. His schoolwork has fallen a bit behind, too.”

Thor’s eyes widened. “Then it is serious.”

“I haven’t pushed him to tell me. I guess it’s time to.” Natasha spoke more to herself than to Thor. He nodded regardless.  
“Will you let me know if he tells you?”

“Of course, big guy. Don’t worry.” She gave him a smile that she let drop as soon as he walked away. There was work to do.

 

*

 

_From: Natasha_  
To: Serrure  
19:06

_Get dressed, we’re going out tonight._

_From: Loki_  
To: Nat  
19:10

_Thanks, but I don’t feel like going anywhere._

_From: Natasha_  
To: Serrure  
19:11

_I’m sure you don’t, but you have to, please._

_From: Loki_  
To: Nat  
19:15

_I said no, please leave me alone._

_From: Natasha_  
To: Serrure  
19:22

_Ok…_

 

Loki could tell Natasha was displeased with him but couldn’t find it in him to care. He threw his cell phone on the floor and buried his head in his pillows again.

 

**A study in teenage feelings**

The thing about puberty is, it tends to do strange things to a person’s mind and body. What started off as an attraction developed into a crush and then into a mindblowing obsession. Loki knew it couldn’t be real, but his body wasn’t lying. At the more thought of the asshole who presumed enough to spy on him, his heart rate accelerated, his stomach turned into a knot and his mind became hazy with thoughts of romance and sex. It shouldn’t, but there it was.

 

In reality, Loki was love-starved. Growing up in a family which favoured his brother and loving his brother more than his brother loved him, he always felt like an uncared for pet. Finding out that he was adopted didn’t help matters at all. When he first noticed Tony watching him, he was confused as to why, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he toyed with the idea of Tony being interested in him. The truth, as it is wont to, was quite a disappointment. But Tony was handsome and cool and Loki couldn’t resist.

He fell.

Just like that.

Loki hated himself for being so weak.

 

(At a later time, with his mind clear of lust driven thoughts and heartaches, Loki would come to realize that he hadn’t been weak. He had been stupid. And he would hate himself even more.)


End file.
